CBI fails to prove Sachan’s murder, says it is suicide

After more than a year of investigation, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) concluded that the death of Lucknow’s deputy chief medical officer (CMO) Dr YS Sachan, accused in the NRHM scam, was a case of suicide and not murder.

The agency found two notes written by him which indicate he was “disturbed” and “depressed”. Also, there was no evidence to suggest the presence of second person at the scene of the crime, the agency said in its closure report submitted to the Special CBI Judge Neel Kant Mani on Friday.

Sachan, suspected to be behind the massive irregularities in the utilisation of funds for the National Rural Health Mission, was also a suspect in the murders of CMOs Dr BP Singh and Dr VK Arya.

On June 22, 2011, his body was found in a toilet of Lucknow jail. He had apparently hanged himself, but the body also bore eight incisions.

A probe by chief judicial magistrate Rajesh Upadhyaya concluded it was a case of “murder”. The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court then directed the CBI to probe the matter.

According to the CBI closure report, Sachan first attempted to kill himself by inflicting wounds with a blade. But only superficial veins got cut. “After some time, he attempted to hang himself with a belt, in which he succeeded,” the report said.

He was extremely upset after he was arrested and questioned about the murders of Singh and Arya. “He was so disturbed that he had even stopped having his meals,” the report added.

The CBI, however, held three jail officials, including then IG Jail VK Gupta, responsible for laxity.